1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to the field of mobile computer systems, and more particularly, to handheld computer system that includes a configuration for a wireless data and voice communications.
2. Description of the Related Art
Handheld information organization and communications devices are becoming increasingly popular for both business users and more general users. For example, handheld systems such as a personal digital assistant (PDA) offered by Palm, Inc. (Sunnyvale, Calif.) or Hewlett-Packard (Palo Alto, Calif.) have found widespread acceptance amongst people for the purpose of organizing their calendars and storing personal contact information. Typically, these PDAs contain Personal Information Management (PIM) applications such as an address book, a calendar application, a memo application, and a to-do list application. The popularity of these devices is due in part to their small form factor and operational readiness (no “boot” time required). Thus, PDAs allow convenient and instant access to a large amount of personal information.
Over time, research has indicated that having a simple intuitive method of quickly accessing the personal information data is a feature of importance for many users of a PDA. Operating systems designed around this principle, for example, the Palm Operating System (PalmOS) from Palm Source, Inc. (Sunnyvale, Calif.), have captured a large proportion of the PDA market. An advantage of such operating systems is the flexibility with which a user can select and manipulate data in a number of different ways. For example, a user may use up/down scroll buttons, can select an item displayed on a touch screen, and/or scroll through different category lists by repeatedly pressing an application button. In some contexts, such as an address book application, this allows a user to store and access a list of acquaintances and contact details relatively quickly and efficiently. Nevertheless, there continues to be a need for a new, useful interface that allow a user to select and arrange items in such lists quickly and in a simple manner.
In addition to a PDA, many users also consider a cellular telephone to be an essential tool. Hence, many users have both a PDA and a cellular telephone. The PDA provides functionality such as use as PIM organization. As an example of how a user uses both devices, if a user has a call scheduled with a contact, the time of that call may be noted in a calendar of the PIM. When the user is ready to initiate the call, the user references the contact's telephone number in the address book of the PIM and thereafter dials that contact on the cellular telephone. The need to consult and interact with two separate devices is inconvenient as both time-consuming and cumbersome.
One attempt to address these shortcomings was the pdQ Smartphone from QUALCOMM Incorporated (San Diego, Calif.), which is illustrated in FIG. 1A. The pdQ Smartphone includes a display indicator showing telephone mode status. The pdQ Smartphone also includes a closed keypad with push-buttons for dialing telephone numbers, as well as status lights, a speaker, and a microphone. FIG. 1B illustrates another view of the pdQ Smartphone. In this view, the keypad of the pdQ Smartphone is shown in an opened position exposing an organizer. The organizer includes a screen, a writing area, and soft buttons.
Although the pdQ Smartphone combines some of the functionality of an organizer and a cellular telephone, it includes number of drawbacks. One drawback is it requires a separate dialing keypad for telephone functions and a separate input area for the PDA. This increase device form factor and increases device manufacturing costs associated with the separate dialing keypad. Another drawback is the pdQ Smartphone lacks external control functions not directly related to operation of the phone or the PDA portion, but applicable to both. For example, there is no mechanism to control speaker functions when the phone is not operational.
Yet another drawback is many users have two or more voicemail accounts, e.g., cellular phone, work, and home, which limits operational effectiveness of devices such as the pdQ Smartphone because it provides options for use with only a single voicemail account. Still another drawback is the pdQ Smartphone allowed access to networks, e.g., the Internet, but only through a dialing option. Devices thereafter have allowed for access to networks such as the Internet through general packet radio service (GPRS) or a wireless network connection, e.g., IEEE 802.11, but requires software to control radio operation functions such as ON and OFF. This can be inconvenient because it requires the user to navigate through user interface menus or buttons, which may not be intuitive and could be relatively time consuming.
Therefore, there is a need for an improved apparatus and method for combining the functionality of a handheld computing device and a telephone.